Haringey Borough, in all of their previous incarnations had never played in the FA Cup proper competition, the closest they had been having come 96 years earlier when Grimsby Town won a last qualifying round (sixth in those days) replay against Tufnell Park.

In 2017 it was another team who wore black and white stripes which triumphed, Heybridge Swifts who won their way into the first round proper of the Emirates FA Cup for the fourth time in their history.

As devastating as the defeat was for the Hares, the fact remains that Haringey Borough had never reached this far in the FA Cup and their victory over Welling United in the second round qualifying had earned them the Bostik’s League’s performance of the month for September, an achievement recognised by League Chairman Nick Robinson making a presentation to Borough chairman Aky Achillea.

Once the game started, it was clear that Heybridge were less awed by the situation and they started much the better. In the seventh minute, Ryan Henshaw had a header cleared off the line by Michael O’Donoghue.

Four minutes later, Heybridge took the lead. An attack down the left resulted in a deep cross which Lewis Goldbold controlled neatly. He took a touch and fired a shot which Valery Pajetat parried back to him.

Godbold then took the ball past the sprawling Pajetat and, from near the goal-line on the edge of the six-yard box, drilled a shot across the face of the goal. Lawrence Yiga, almost on the goal-line, succeeded only in deflecting the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear the danger.

It took 20 minutes for Haringey to really find their feet and they began to ask questions of the Heybridge defence, with Ralston Gabriel showing that he would take a lot of stopping. One run led to a chance for Michael O’Donoghue, but he dragged his shot just wide of the far post.

Both goalkeepers made relatively comfortable saves, George Sambridge denying an effort from Gabriel, while Pajetat athletically kept out a shot from Luke Callender. Haringey’s best chance of the first half fell to Jorge Djassu-Sambu, but the midfielder blasted the ball high over the crossbar from the angle of the six-yard box.

Five minutes into the second half, Haringey almost equalised when Jamie-Lee O’Donoghue had a shot, but he hit the outside of a post. For the next 15 minutes, Borough were in control, but the Heybridge defence had most of the answers to the questions put to them.

But the pressure finally told off after an hour. Jamie-Lee O’Donoghue was the provider with a good run and low cross. For once Gabriel lost his marker and he slide the ball into the net from just a few yards out.

At this point, Haringey looked by far the more likely winners. But they paid a heavy price for over-committing to attack. In the 68th minute, they lost the ball midway inside the Swifts half.

The counter-attack was dangerous and Godbold played a superb diagonal pass to the inside-right channel. Sam Bantick timed his run perfectly, losing his marker, controlled the ball and he lashed it into the roof of the net.

Three minutes later, Callender worked his way into the penalty area, squirmed past two tacklers and was brought down by a third. The striker was actually running slightly away from goal, but he was clearly searching for an opening when the ill-judged challenge ended his run.

There were few complaints from the Haringey defence at the penalty award. Callender picked himself up and made no mistake with the spot kick.

And just two minutes after that, substitute Joshua Fagbohun attacked down the right flank, got behind the defender and crossed low into the danger area, where Callender was on hand to tap home.

It took a while for Haringey to recover from those multiple blows, but they gave themselves a glimmer of home with two minutes of normal time remaining when Ruaridh Kay scored from close range after a corner had not been properly cleared.

Heybridge, however, were not to be denied and they saw out time without any further alarms.

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